Embarkation souvenir handkerchief : Sapper H C Gibson, 10 Australian Field Company, AIF

Square cotton lawn handkerchief onto which is printed a nominal roll. Titled 'March Reinforcements, Australian Field Engineers, AIF, Left Sydney May 10 1917', the list is headed by an image of the troopship HMAT Marathon, with a short list of its senior officers on the left, and a list of the engineer senior officers to the right. The main roll details Sappers and Drivers of No 1, 2 and 3 Sections, Sappers of the Signallers and Sergeants, Corporals, Drivers and Privates of the Army Service Corps. The printing is faded.

This handkerchief was sent home to his mother in Australia by 17831 Sapper Henry Charles Gibson, 10 Field Company, Australian Field Engineers, after his embarkation in 1917. A blacksmith of Heathcote, Victoria, Gibson enlisted on 31 October 1916 aged 20 years. His embarkation aboard HMAT Marathon on 10 May 1917 was commemorated by this specially printed handkerchief. Upon arrival in England on 20 July 1917, Sapper Gibson continued his training before transferring to France to 10 Field Company, with which he served throughout the war, remaining in France until April 1919, when he applied for training as a wheelwright with The Reading Ice and Cold Storage Company. He trained with this company from mid April until 16 July 1919, earning the praise of the company as 'one of the most satisfactory men employed by us'. Gibson returned to Australia aboard HMAT Euripides, disembarking on 6 September and being discharged on 27 November 1919.